Erdogan and Putin back investigation into Syria chemical attack

A man breathes through an oxygen mask, after what rescue workers described as a suspected gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idlib, Syria April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday to support an investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons into the chemical weapons attack in Syria last week, Turkish presidential sources said.

In a phone call, Erdogan stressed to his Russian counterpart that the use of chemical weapons was a crime against humanity, they said.

The April 4 attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, blamed by many governments on the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, killed scores of people and prompted the United States to launch a missile strike on a Syrian air base in response.